Community Service
by Fullmetal Pipsqueek
Summary: Karin always thought community service was supposed to be some kind of punishment, but that all changed when she met Chad. ChadKarin More info inside.
1. Chapter 1

**I want to say that this is just an attempt, but I think this fic has potential. It's supposed to be an alternate universe, ChadKarin, and I want feedback as to what you think.**

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She looked at her almost nonexistant fingernails, then stared blankly at her probation officer. He was explaining something about community service, and how she would have to do five hundred hours of it before the judge would even consider reprieving her probation.

Telling your principal to go screw himself, then beating the crap out of him when he won't let you leave the school will do that to you. The officer was now reminding her of how lucky she was that the principal didn't sue her family for his broken nose and black eyes.

She'd just spent two weeks in BTC, and was now grounded until she was thirty. Whatever, she still had internet access, and her other electronics. She just wasn't allowed to play any sports for the rest of this year, and couldn't hang out with her friends or talk on the phone too them.

Poor Karin was still allowed in school. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't expelled. But she was lucky to avoid the RISE Academy, where she'd be forced to wear khaki pants and navy blue shirts, and a belt.

"You start tomorrow at the Oak's Retirement home. Be up and there by ten, or I'll have to escort you there myself." Karin cringed at the thought of the old man escorting her to her community service, especially in the get up he'd been rumored to wear on such occasions. Please, not that God-awful striped hat and capris.

Karin stood up from her chair, stretched, and walked out of the office in hopes of regaining the feeling in her behind.

Her big brother was sitting next to a soda machine, with a Dr. Pepper in one hand, and a book in the other. He must've shown up early, Karin realized, but didn't seem to care. It had happened that way the last few times he'd had to pick her up from these little meetings, and once he'd even attended one with her, as the presence of a legal guardian was required, and their father had been out for some emergency surgery on some old lady's lung.

"Ichigo, can we get the hell out of this place?" Karin dogeared his book for him, and took a swig out of his soda.

Ichigo stood up, fished his keys from his pocket, and almost handed them to her, then remembered her liscence was revoked. That was another story, involving a drive-by egging of some girl's house. The bitch deserved it, though, after the way she'd treated Rei, Karin and Yuzu's best friend since they were three.

"Where do you want to go for lunch? I'm in the mood for something spicy myself, but it's your call. I don't feel like thinking," Ichigo scratched his head.

"Not that you ever do," Karin mumbled. "What about that little Mexican place your little friend works at. I wanna meet her."

"Hell no." Ichigo glared at her, and ruffled her hair. The only thing about it that hadn't changed in the past few years was the way it was cut. She'd had it died about a zillion different colours, then settled on her naturally black hair with a large red streak in the front, on the left side of her face. Karin had gotten her nose pierced when she was twelve, getting herself grounded for a month, and Ichigo had pierced her ears four times with Isshin's permission.

"You're the moron that told me to pick, so we're going there. Drive somewhere else, and I'll tell Keigo why you really had to change your sheets. It had absolutely nothing to do with a wet dream, did it Ichi?" Karin smirked, and Ichigo glared.

"That's none of you're freaking business. I really shouldn't be having this conversation with you, anyway. You're too young." They walked out of the building, and started toward the Expedition.

"I learned where babies came from when I was six. I think I'm old enough." Karin smacked Ichigo's arm.

"You went and told your classmates. In detail. Then were suspended for being a bad influence on other kids. It took forever for them to allow you back in school."

"One week!" Karin proceeded to blow the raspberry in his face before she went to her side of the Expedition.

* * *

Karin shot the bird at a passing car, that had just cut her brother off. They'd just left lunch, and much to Karin's disappointment, Ichigo's little friend wasn't there so she could embarrass him.

"You know that might be an off-duty cop, right?" Ichigo glanced at Karin, who was currently rolling her eyes. "It's only legal for me to do that anyway. You've got a huge record, and you're not even out of high school."

"What are you, my warden?" Karin glared at him.

"Huh-uh. I'm your big brother, and I'm just looking after you." Ichigo braked, then took the turn down their street.

"Well, I don't need a protector."

"So? You have one anyway." Ichigo reached over, and ruffled her hair, and she twisted his thumb back, making him wince. "I need that. Poseable thumbs usually help with pulling a key out of the ignition." Ichigo turned into their driveway, where the garage door was open, and Yuzu was pulling a large trash can back inside from the curb.

Karin jumped from their Expedition before Ichigo even turned it off, and ran inside the house, more than likely to stay in her room until dinner. The attic had been converted into her room when they moved there twelve years before.

* * *

Karin was quiet at dinner, as usual, the the only talking was really done by their father, Isshin, or Yuzu, about random stuff. Yuzu was talking about her boyfriend, Jinta, who was apparently the most popular guy in tenth grade, and how she was so lucky to be dating him. Isshin was talking about how the surgery went, and how they almost lost the poor woman, but revived her with two pints of blood.

"Karin, you really should chew your food twenty four times!" He screamed across the table, with that annoying grin of his, and patted his daughter on the head.

Karin retorted by kicking him in the head, which miraculously didn't knock him out. She ran a hand through her hair, and took her plate to the sink, excusing herself from the dinner table, and went upstairs to her room.

"What's her problem?" Yuzu asked, before stuffing another bite of lasagna into her trap.

"She has to do five hundred hours of community servic," Ichigo paused, " at The Oaks. She's probably gonna have to dump bed pans or something."

"Could be worse," Isshin began. "She could have to lead a sing-along or call out numbers for bingo. Or be teaching arts-n-crafts." He waggled his eyebrows.

Ichigo and Yuzu paused in their chewing to get a mental picture of all that. Ichigo had to swallow his food pretty quick to keep from blowing it all over the table.

"Damn, that's freaking impossible!" Ichigo took his plate to the sink, and went out into the living room to watch TV, with Yuzu following suit.

"Masaki, I've failed in teaching our children not to have potty mouths!" Isshin began to bow to the Masaki poster, and earned something along the lines of 'Shut up!' from Ichigo and Yuzu.

**We have STARS Academy here, and it's basically for drop outs who want to turn it around, and RISE is a program in the schools where you have to wear khaki pants and tucked-n navy shirts and belts. The RISE in this story is the same thing as JDC, which is just Juvi. I forgot what RISE stands for, but I'll tell you next chapter, if there is one.**

**The Oaks is reallly a retirement home where I live, so I thought I'd put it in here. I'm trying to make the town in this story, Maebashi, the sme as my hometown.**

**Please Review**


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is for NigaleCross.**

**Disclaimer: I forgot it in my lsst chapter, but I don't own Bleach.**

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Karin looked around at her surroundings, and fought the temptation to leave. She was really desperate not to have her probation officer escort her to her community service.

The Oaks wasn't very big, maybe about seventy-five people, but the front of it was pretty much overrun with older people in wheelchairs and a few with knitting needles in front of the television. There was a woman in her early twenties sitting at the front desk chatting away with one of the white-haired women about gardening.

Karin started toward the desk. She pulled on her fish-net gloves and the sleeves of her Nickelback t-shirt, then quickened her pace until she got to the desk. She waited for the women to pause in their conversation before she said anything, then quietly spoke about her community service.

"Alrighty. Celia, I'll be back in a moment after I take her to Oscar," The woman paused to push a strand of red hair behind her ear. "Right this way." She had a friendly smile, but Karin thought she spoke to her as if she was still a child.

Karin smirked at the woman. "Mind speaking to me as if I'm actually a human, please?" Even Karin thought it came out as a bit rude, but she didn't apologize for it.

"Alrighty, then. You can call me Orihime, Miss...?" Orihime looked clueless for a moment.

"Karin. Just Karin. Now where are we going, and who's Oscar?"Karin pushed a small strand of bright red hair back with the rest of her dark hair.

"Right over here," Orihime pointed to a large white door, with a plate on it marked De la Rosa. "He's the owner of this place. His grandson should be her in a bit, but he had a class this morning."

"Is he cool, or does he have a stick up his butt?" Kairn fought the temptation to bite her nails again.

"Well, Chad's alright. A bit quiet, though." Orihime looked a Karin's small glare. "You meant Oscar!" Karin nodded at the slow red head. "Yep, he's really cool!"

"Who's really cool?" An old man walked up, straight, with a large folder in one hand.

"Oscar!" Orihime jumped up, and hugged the man, nearly making him drop his folder. "I was just telling Miss Karin about how cool you are. She's the help you sent for!" Orihime let the poor man go, and took a step back to give him room to breathe.

Karin raised an eyebrow at the redhead, and leaned up against the wall. "Please don't refer to me as the help. I'd prefer being referred to as the delinquent." Karin ran a hand through her hair.

"Well, nice to meet you, Delinquent." Oscar held his hand out for her to shake, then took it back when he realized she wasn't going to. "Right this way, into my office. Orihime, you can go back to the front. I'm sure that Celia is waiting for you." He smiled.

"Oh, right!" Orihime ran off back to the front of the building to where Celia would be waiting for her.

Karin followed Oscar into the office, hands in her pockets.

"Make yourself at home. My grandson should be here soon to give you a full tour of the place, then find something for you to do." Oscar opened his folder, then began reading though some papers. "Not that it's any of my business, but I want to know what you did to get community service." Karin noticed he had a slight accent.

"I beat the crap out of my asshole-"

"Watch your mouth."

"-of a principal. He deserved it, though." Karin seemed to stare right through Oscar.

"Well, do that to me and I'll file a restraining order. You really don't seem like the kind of kid to do something like that. A bit weird, but not a bad seed," Oscar paused, as if her was about to say soemthing else, then someone walked into the room.

He was tall, a bit bulky, with hair that covered his face. He was wearing a loud orange shirt, and the bookbag slung over his shoulder was covered with signitures, presumably from friends.

"Hey, Abuelo, sorry I'm late but I-" He did a double take at the dark haired girl laning against the wall. "Who's she?" Chad asked, forgetting about his excuse.

"Karin." Karin fought the temptation to tell him to tone down his clothing. "I'm the delinquent that;s supposed to work here for five hundred hours." She held her hand out, then took it back when he moved to shake it. "I've never seen why people really do that, but it's really fun." She smirked.

"Looks like the Delinquent it coming out of her little shell," Oscar smiled, making his old eyes crinkle a bit. "Sado, I want you to show her around, then put her to work in the sun room. She's a bit pale."

Karin sniffed at the comment, her phone decided to ring. It rang "Listen To The Music" from the Doobie Brothers.

"This better be good," Karin spoke into the phone, not really caring who was at the other end. "It's for you," She handed the phone to Oscar. "It's my probation officer."

Oscar waved at them to leave, and Karin glared and stuck her tongue out as they left. The two walked in silence, with Chad only speaking when he was showing her what's what.

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"What's the deal with your name? The chick up front calls you Chad, and your gramps calls you Sado. What's with that?" Karin looked up at him, and knew that if she kept it up, she'd end up with a crick in her neck.

"Someone misread my name tag when I was eleven. It stuck." Chad was silent for the rest of their walk, up until they got to this big atrium. "Here's the sun room. Pretty much all you're gonna be doing here is talking with the older people, and take them back inside when they want to go back to their rooms. I have to go back to the office and see what needs done." He left her outside in the atrium, and just barely heard her call out to him that she wanted her phone back.

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Odd girl,Chad thought to himself. Her hair was dyed, she was a bit shorter than most of the girls he knew, and she seemed to be a bit outrageous. Hed read her file with his Abuelo when he was looking for a short term replacement for Judy, who'd quit because she needed to stay home with her children.

What really struck him as odd was that she looked a bit cute, instead of being one of those annoying, loud, preppy girls he had in most of his classes.

He knocked on the office door before entering, so that he didn't scare his Abuelo when he walked in. Apparently, waking an old man up from his sleep really jump started his heart.

"Girl wants her phone back." Chad walked over to the desk, and picked it up. It vibrated in his hand, causing him to jump a bit.

"Relax, Sado. It's just a text message." It's kind of sad that Oscar was more literate to electronics than his grandson, ne?

"Anything you want me to get done before I come back?" Chad started toward the door, then paused in his step to wait for a response.

"Marrietta wants to go outside. She wants to knit in the sun for a change." Abuelo rolled his eyes. They went through the same thing every week or so with Marietta. She's perfectly sweet, and wouldn't ever arm a fly, but she's not quite right. She's a bit of a nutt, but she's fun t be around, and happens to be one of Chad's favourites. A bit of a Grandma.

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Karin leaned back against the brick wall, and watched Rosarita stitch the small design into the cloth. "It's for my little Charlie," She'd said. "He's two, and it so adorable." She proceeded to tell endless stories of her grandchildren, all twelve of them, then about her five children.

It struck karin as a bit odd that it didn't bore her in the slightest. She actually enjoyed the stories this woman could tell.

"Enough about mine, tell me about your family."

Karin inwardly twitched at the thought of telling a complete stranger about her whack job family, but began anyway.

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**Hope you enjoyed it, and read and review!**

**Shorty**


	3. Chapter 3

Karin thought about telling Rosarita about her family, then decided against it, and tried to think of a way to change the subject. The weather was totally out, since they were sitting in it, and asking about how a nursing home is just totally stupid. _"What's it like here in the old folks' home?" "Oh, fine, I guess. They come around periodically to help with the Depends." Yeah, real smooth, Karin. _Luckily, she didn't have to worry about it very long, as Chad was walking toward her, pushing a wheelchair.

Karin waved, and Rosarita followed suit with a sweet smile plastered to her face. Chad's hair was still in his face, and it made Karin itch to get up on a stool so that she could push it out of his face.

"Hello, hello, hello!" The old woman had a bit of a sing-song voice, and was holding a big flowery purse in her lap. It looked as if it was about to burst, with all the stuff inside. It had everything from crochet hooks to a racoon hat, which had it's tail sticking out of the purse.

Chad wheeled her up beside Rosarita, and the two started up a conversation. Chad sat down beside Karin on the concrete ledge, and handed her the phone. She immediately started surfng through it, and found her text message.

"Crap," Karin ran a hand through her hair. "Looks like it's my turn to pick something up for dinner. Well, Ichigo better not complain, unless he wants to become Pretzel Legs."

"Who'd become Pretzel Legs, hun?" Rosarita had a thick Southern accent.

"My brother. My Dad and Yuzu, my sister, are out on some sort of emercency, again. It's probably just the neighbor kid getting his head stuck in a drawer, again." Karin chuckled. "We Kurosakis just can't pick a normal neighborhood to live in, can we?"

"How long have you lived here, hun?" Rosarita stitched the last letter in Charlie's name, and started on the little Bugs Bunny that was holding the 'C' up. "Can't have been long."

"I dunno, since Ichigo was twelve," Karin thought for a moment. "About nine years. Why?" Karin started up a game of Bejeweled on her phone.

"Where do you live?" Rosarita totally ignored her question.

"Indian Harbour." Karin raised an eyebrow. "Can I ask why you want to know all this?" She wasn't going to get an answer any time soon, as Rosarita, and that other woman, who Karin just heard called Marietta were in a conversation all their own.

Karin shrugged her shoulders at Chad, and continued her game of Bejeweled on her phone. The raven-headed girl jumped a bit when someone called her name. She looked toward Marietta, and looked puzzled for a moment.

"That's where I used to live, until about a year ago. I lived toward the back gate," Marietta took hold of the silver locket around her neck. "My son lives in that house now, with his family. Their's burned down, and we all lived there together for the past few years until I became too much to handle." She chuckled.

Karin was facing Marietta and Rosarita, now, with her phone stuffed back into her pocket.

"You the one who was always fooling around in the yard with a few little kids?" Karin smirked. "I was usually down the street, playing some game or another with the neighbor kids."

Marietta got really quiet for a second, as if she thought it would be wrong to say anything. She finally gathered the guts to speak, after a bit. "Can you tell me how my family's doing?"

Karin's expression fell a bit. She couldn't figure out how to tell Marietta that she really hasn't been paying attention to her neighbors. Karin hated it how people gave her that face, the one where you want to tell them what they want to hear, despite whether it's true or not.

Karin bit the bullet, and spoke the truth anyway, with her head hung low.

"Well, that's alright. They usually call me every week or so. I'm just trying to make sure they're not lying to make me feel good." Marietta pulled a set of needles and some yarn from her purse, and began new something or other.

"I'm sorry," Karin really did feel awful about it. "I can stop by and check on them if you want." Karin decided that whether or not Marietta wanted her to, she would still check up on her family.

But it's mostly because Marietta had the same soft look as her Mom used to have.

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Karin put a dollar into the soda machine, and grabbed her Coke about two seconds later. As of now, she could really use a shot of Jack Daniels. But alas, she'd given up on anything alcoholic a year ago when Ichigo had shown her pictures of what it would turn her liver and brain into while persuading her to go to Alcoholics Anonymous. And it worked, provided Ichigo attend with her.

"Delinquent?" It was Oscar, with that almost annoying sense of humor. "You're needed. Chad wants you to play DJ."

"Turn-table, or CD player?" Karin asked, between swigs of soda. "I can do either."

"CD player, unfortunately. Maybe while you're out there, you can show him how to make it go from the different disc slots. He's the one who wanted to do that job, and he still can't figure out how to operate the damned thing."

"And you tell me to watch my mouth?" Karin asked, crumpling up her empty soda can, then throwing it into the trash can next to the machine. "Lead the way."

They took a few turns, and went down another hallway, and ended up in the cafeteria. There was a big stereo on a cart near the kitchen, and Kairn could see Chad nearly seething at not being able to make it work.

"Try plugging it in, loser." Karin earned a glare from both Oscar and Chad, but Chad's was more visible in his eyes. Karin went over, and plugged the stereo into the outlet. "_Now _turn it on. It should work."

Chad flipped the stereo on, and stood back.

Karin went through the collection of CD's, and looked disgusted at most of them.

"Why do you have 'Rockin Robin?" Karin flipped a few more pages in the CD book. "Hey, Benny Goodman!" Karin took that CD out of the case, and put it into the player. "I love him."

Oscar and Chad looked a bit appalled that the hard-core delenquent could like jazz, then watched in amazement when she began to dance a bit to it.

A man with a walker moved slowly towards them. He had salt-and-pepper hair, and looked a bit young to be in a nursing home. His eyes were dark, and he stood up fairly straight for someone with a walker. He seemed to be a bit lively, compared to the people that were sitting in chairs and staring at the TV or reading something.

"'Ello, youngin'! Care to dance?" The salt-and-pepper man held his hand out. "I'm Salvatore, but everyone calls me Sal."

Karin took his hand, and smiled as they danced. She looked over Sal's shoulder at Chad and Oscar, who were currently trying to pick their jaws up off the floor.

Karin continued to dance with Sal for the rest of the song, and was soon dancing with other men in the room. After awhile, Oscar and Chad began to dance with the ladies. The dancing had to stop, though, when a few people began going back to their rooms, and there were a few others that needed help getting back to their rooms.

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Karin walked out of the bedroom quietly, so as not to wake Rosarita from her nap. She'd taken Rosarita back to her room about half an hour ago, and they'd been talking about the most random things. Kairn was telling Rosarita about when she was nine and still managed to participate in her soccer game, despite being sick with the flu. It helped her team win, especially when she puked on about half of the other team.

Karin had noticed about halfway through her story that Rosarita was asleep, but she finished telling it, then picked her jacket up off the chair she'd been sitting in and walked out of the room.

Maybe community service wouldn't suck too badly, after all.

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**Well, there's chapter three for you! Sorry it took awhile to update. My brain went on strike again, and I had to get a 1000 word report on Medicine in the Civil War turned in. Hope you enjoyed it!**


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